P.A.O.K.

PAOK (Greek: ΠΑΟΚ, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton, Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans),[1] commonly known as A.C. PAOK (Greek: Α.Σ. Π.Α.Ο.Κ.), is a major multi-sports club based in Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. The club has several departments, including football, basketball, volleyball, handball, water polo, swimming, wrestling, ice hockey, and weightlifting. P.A.O.K was founded in April 1926. Because of its crest, it is also known as the "Double-Headed Eagle of the North", in contrast with AEK, the "Double-Headed Eagle of the South". They are one of the most popular Greek sports-clubs with many fans all over the country (mostly, but not exclusively, in Northern Greece), and also among the Greek diaspora.

PAOK
Full nameΠανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών
Panthessaloníkeios Athlitikós Ómilos Konstantinopolitón
(Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans)
NicknameDikefalos Aetos (Double-Headed Eagle)
Asprόmavri (White-Blacks)
Founded1926
Colours    Black, White
ChairmanThanasis Katsaris
TitlesEuropean Titles: 2
Balkan Titles: 1
Websiteacpaok.gr
Active departments of P.A.O.K.
Football (Men's) Football (Women's) Basketball (Men's)
Basketball (Women's) Volleyball (Men's) Volleyball (Women's)
Water Polo (Men's) Water Polo (Women's) Handball (Men's)
Handball (Women's) Boxing Taekwondo
Cycling Athletics Ice hockey
Chess Wrestling Weightlifting
Swimming Judo Synchronized swimming

History
The football team of 1926
The team of 1939

PAOK is closely linked with Hermes Sports Club (Greek: Ερμής), which was formed in 1875 by the Greek community of Pera, a district of Constantinople (Istanbul). The club was founded in April 1926 by Constantinopolitans who fled to Thessaloniki after the Greek defeat in the Greco-Turkish War.[2][3][4]

The club's first memorandum of association was approved on 20 April 1926 by a decision of the Thessaloniki Court of First Instance (No. 822). The founding members were A. Angelopoulos, A. Athanasiadis, K. Anagnostidis, M. Ventourellis, F. Vyzantinos, V.Karapiperis, A. Dimitriadis, D. Dimitriadis, N. Zoumboulidis, M. Theodosiadis, T. Ioakimopoulos, P. Kalpaktsoglou, T. Kartsambekis, D. Koemtzopoulos, K. Koemtzopoulos, P. Kontopoulos, K. Kritikos, M. Konstantinidis, P. Maleskas, I. Nikolaidis, L. Papadopoulos, F. Samantzopoulos, T. Tsoulkas, M. Tsoulkas, S. Triantafyllidis and T. Triantafyllidis (who was also its first Chairman).[2]

P.A.O.K.'s first Board of Directors, serving between 1926 and 1927, consisted of:

  • T. Triantafyllidis (President)
  • P. Kalpaktsoglou (1st vice-president)
  • K. Kritikos (General Secretary)
  • M. Tsoulkas (Special Secretary)
  • T. Ioakimopoulos (Treasurer)
  • A. Angelopoulos (Director of Football)
  • A. Dimitriadis (Director of Sports)
  • P. Maleskas (Consultant)
  • K. Koemtzopoulos (Consultant)
  • M. Theodosiadis (Consultant)

The club's policy was to be open to every citizen of Thessaloniki, leading to a minor rivalry with AEK Thessaloniki, the other Constantinopolitan team of the city, in which only refugees were allowed to play. The original logo of PAOK was a horseshoe and a four-leaf clover. The leaves were green and above them were the initials of the word PAOK. Kostas Koemtzopoulos, one of PAOK's founding members, came up with this idea, inspired by his favourite brand of cigarettes.[5]

The football club played their first game (friendly) on 4 May 1926, at Thermaikos stadium, defeating Megas Alexandros Thessaloniki 2–1. The first coach of the club was Kostas Andreadis, who spent five years on the bench without demanding any payment.[6] Their first captain was Michalis Ventourelis.

The first professional contract was signed by the club on 5 September 1928. The contract stipulated that the French footballer Raymond Etienne  – of Jewish descent from Pera Club – would be paid 4,000 drachmas per month. The contract was signed by Dr. Meletiou, the PAOK chairman, and Mr. Sakellaropoulos, the Hon. Secretary.[7]

In early 1929, AEK Thessaloniki was virtually dissolved and absorbed by PAOK. PAOK thereupon changed their emblem, adopting the double-headed eagle, as a symbol of the club's Byzantine/Constantinopolitan heritage. PAOK also got possession of AEK's facilities located around Syntrivani (i.e. Fountain) Square.

In 1937, PAOK won his first title, the Macedonia (EPSM or Thessaloniki) Championship, and participated in the Panhellenic Championship, finishing second. The 1937 team included: Sotiriadis, Vatikis, Goulios, Kontopoulos, Bostantzoglou, Panidis, Glaros, Kritas, Ioannidis, Kalogiannis, Koukoulas, Kosmidis, Apostolou, Vafiadis, Vasiliadis, Anastasiadis, Moschidis, Tzakatzoglou, Zakapidas.

The first Greek championship for the basketball team was achieved in 1958–59 season. The first Greek championship for the football team was achieved in 1975–76 season.

In the 90s, the basketball team won another Greek championship and two European cups, the 1990–91 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup and the 1993–94 FIBA Korać Cup.

Crest and Colours

The original logo of PAOK was a horseshoe and a four-leaf clover. The current symbol since 1929 is the double-headed eagle. The eagle symbolizes the origins of the club in the former Byzantine capital, Constantinople, and the legacy of the Greek refugees from Asia Minor, Eastern Thrace, Pontus and Caucasus. In 2013, a golden outline was added to the football team's crest, as a symbol of the club's Byzantine heritage.[8]

The club's traditional colours are black, as sadness for the Asia Minor Catastrophe of 1922 and the end of the Greek presence in Anatolia, and white as hope for recovery.[9]

Supporters

P.A.O.K. is the most widely supported sports-club in Northern Greece and one of the 4 most popular in the country (along with the big-three of capital Athens). PAOK's traditional fanbase comes from the city of Thessaloniki, where the club is based, as well as from the rest of Macedonia region and Northern Greece. They also have fans all over the country and in the Greek Diaspora (Germany, Australia, USA, etc.).

Rivalries
Main articles: Olympiacos and PAOK rivalry, Aris and PAOK rivalry, Double-headed eagles derby, and Panathinaikos-PAOK rivalry

P.A.O.K.'s main rivals are Olympiacos, Aris (local rivals), Panathinaikos, AEK, Iraklis.

P.A.O.K. Departments – Honours

Men's Football

[10]

Football kit evolution

[11][12][13]

First

1926–27
1936–37
1962–63
1966–67
1967–68
1970–71
1971–72
1975–76
1984–85
1990–91
2002–03
2004–05
2008–09
2015–16
2016–17
2017–18
2018–19

Alternative

2000–01
2001–02
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17
2017–18
2018–19
Toumba Stadium
P.A.O.K. Sports Arena, home ground of basketball and volleyball teams
Bus of the team
PAOK fans

Women's Football

Men's Basketball

[14]

Women's Basketball
  • 1 Greek women's U-18 Championship: 2013
  • 2 Greek women's U-16 Championship: 2010, 2011

Men's Volleyball

Women's Volleyball
  • 1 Greek women's U-18 Championship: 2019

Men's Handball
  • Greek Championships: 3
    • 2009, 2010, 2015
  • Greek Cups: 3
    • 2012, 2015, 2017
  • Greek beach handball championship: 1
    • 2001
  • 1 Greek men's U-15 Championship: 2015

Women's Handball

Men's Water Polo
  • 1 Greek men's U-17 Championship: 2019
  • 1 Greek men's U-15 Championship: 2017
  • 2 Greek men's U-13 Championships: 2015, 2018

Women's Water Polo
  • 1 Greek women's U-17 Championship: 2004

Weightlifting
  • 3 Greek men's Championship: 2006, 2017, 2019
  • 6 Greek men's U-20 Championship: 2003, 2004, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
  • 5 Greek men's U-17 Championship: 2004, 2005, 2013, 2014, 2015
  • 1 Greek men's U-15 Championship: 2012

Wrestling
  • 4 Greek men's Championship Greco-Roman: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
  • 2 Greek men's U-17 Championship Greco-Roman: 2017, 2018
  • 2 Greek men's U-15 Championship Greco-Roman: 2016, 2017

Judo
  • 1 Greek men's/women's Championship: 2019

Athletics
  • 3 Greek women's Open Athletics Championship: 1976, 1977, 1982
  • 2 Greek women's Cross Country Championships: 1968, 1974

Swimming
  • 1 Greek OPEN Championship: 1987
  • 4 Greek Youth Championship: 1990, 2008, 2009, 2013

Cycling
  • 1 Greek men's Championship Mountain Bike: 2002
  • 1 Greek men's U-17 Championship Cycling Track: 2008

Boxing
  • 2 Greek men's Championship: 2003, 2007

Roller hockey
  • 1 Greek men's Championship: 2008
  • 1 Balkan Cup: 2007

European honours
Season Men's Football Men's basketball Men's ice hockey
1973–74 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Quarter-finals
1989–90 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup
Semi-finals
1990–91 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup
Winners
1991–92 FIBA European Cup
Final
1992–93 FIBA European League
3rd place
1993–94 FIBA Korać Cup
Winners
1995–96 FIBA European Cup
Final
2006–07 Balkan Amateur Hockey League
Winners

Notable former athletes

PAOK Presidents
 
Name Years
Triantafillos Triantafillidis 1926–1927
Vyzantios Fanourios 1927–1928
Konstantinos Meletiou 1928–1929
Athinodoros Athinodorou 1929–1930
Pantelis Kalpatsoglou 1930–1931
Petros Levantis 1931–1933
Savvas Tsantas 1933–1935
Filaretos Tsompesoglou 1935–1936
Savas Tsantas 1936–1938
Ioannis Tsakiroglou 1938–1939
Dimitrios Kamaras 1939–1940
Pantelis Kalpatsoglou 1940–1944
Filaretos Tsompesoglou 1944–1946
Pantelis Kalpatsoglou 1946–1948
Mirodis Dimitrakopoulos 1948–1949
Georgios Charalampidis 1949–63
Ippokratis Iordanoglou 1963–64
Dimitrios Dimadis 1964–66
Vassilios Zervas 1966–69
Evangelos Mylonas 1969
Stavros Georgiadis 1969–1971
  
Name Years
Ioannis Arvanitakis 1971–1972
Stavros Simitzis 1972–1973
Ioannis Arvanitakis 1973–1974
Georgios Zografos 1974
Arthouros Merdikian 1974–1975
Georgios Pantelakis 1975–1981
Ioannis Vranialis 1981–1983
Dimosthenis Fintanidis 1983–1984
Nikolaos Vezyrtzis 1984–1993
Apostolos Oikonomidis 1993–1995
Charis Lazaridis-Apostolos Alexopoulos 1995–1997
Apostolos Alexopoulos 1997–1998
Athanasios Katsaris 1998 – present

Notable supporters

References
  1. "Myths, heroes and legends: PAOK in focus". uefa.com. 31 October 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  2. "Ιστορία". acpaok.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  3. "History". paokfc.gr. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  4. "PAOK FC". footballhistory.org. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  5. "Milestones". paokfc.gr.
  6. "90 χρόνια ΠΑΟΚ!90 χρόνια προπονητές!". paokvoice.com (in Greek). Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  7. "Ο άγνωστος Ραϊμόν Ετιέν..." [The unknown first foreign player of PAOK Raymond Ettienne]. paokmania.gr (in Greek). 7 December 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  8. "Η ιστορία του σήματος του ΠΑΟΚ" [PAOK logo history]. oldfootball.gr (in Greek). 6 February 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  9. "Η ιστορία του ΠΑΟΚ – History of PAOK". sansimera.gr.
  10. "Honours". paokfc.gr.
  11. "Όλες οι 117 φανέλες ΠΑΟΚ!". inpaok.com (in Greek). 8 March 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  12. "PHOTOSTORY: Οι εμφανίσεις του ΠΑΟΚ στην Α' Εθνική". contra.gr (in Greek). 23 September 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  13. "Retro stories: Οι φανέλες του ΠΑΟΚ!". gazzetta.gr (in Greek). 20 December 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  14. "Trophies". paokbc.gr.
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